writing – moving writers

September 6, 2021September 5, 2021mrfitzfinkle

The Choices Writers Make (If Allowed)

“…in many writing classrooms, students are learning to write by not being allowed to do any of the things “real” writers do: make choices.”

September 1, 2021August 31, 2021Aishwarya M

The Emotional Underlife of Writing

Through all the unprecedented changes the pandemic has brought into our classrooms, something that hasn’t changed and is highly unlikely to change is, how, despite seemingly perfect external conditions, the inner condition of the writer affects their writing.

June 21, 2021June 21, 2021Kenneth Bui

The Infinite Game of Writing

I recently read Simon Sinek’s The Infinite Game. In this book, he builds upon the ideas in James P. Carse’s work titled Finite and Infinite Games. As Carse’s original title suggests, there are two games in our world: finite and infinite. Exploring this concept, Sinek explains the contrast of these two games with specific criteria. […]

June 15, 2021June 14, 2021Kristin Bond

Helping Students Think About Who They Are as a Writer from Day 1

Have you been able to take a deep breath yet? I hope so. Cause I don’t know about you, but it feels as though this past year happened to me — too much time spent being reactive. And now I need to just take some deep breaths — a lot of them. Because before I can […]

April 16, 2021April 16, 2021Brett Vogelsinger

Old Connections Made New

Despite all that the pandemic has stolen from us, it has given us a few things too. I’m sure that over the course of the last thirteen months, everyone can relate a story of a connection they have restored thanks to the speed of technology and the slowdown that coping with COVID has imposed. Through […]

January 18, 2021January 18, 2021Starian Porchia

To Teach Writing Sin Miedo: Rethinking how we create fear or courage for our writers

ESSENTIAL QUESTION: How do we provide students with the opportunities and space to write “sin miedo”? ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: What does it mean to write without fear? Where does fear come from in the context of writing in the classroom? What kinds of classroom traumas create or worsen this fear? How do we help […]

January 12, 2021January 7, 2021Rebekah O'Dell

What Comes After Mentor Texts? Student-Created Mentor Text Rubrics

I’ve been on a journey this fall to think about ways to move students toward increasing writing independence. We know mentor texts benefit writers of all ages. We know that isolating the moves writers make helps newer, less-experienced writers demystify the writing process and take their own work to new heights. But we also want […]

January 12, 2021January 11, 2021Kenneth Bui

Four Reflective Activities That Lead to Meaningful Revision

With a new year comes that familiar and distinct habit for many: profound reflection on the last 12 months. We swap out our calendars for new ones, we declare sentiments like new year, new me (partially in jest, partially in earnestness), and we commit ourselves to learning from our mistakes in pursuit of self-improvement. […]

January 11, 2021January 7, 2021mrfitzfinkle

Tools Over Rules: Writing as Choice-Making, not Compliance

In fact, students often think of writing as an act of compliance – follow the teacher’s instruction, receive a passing grade.

November 1, 2020November 1, 2020Rebekah O'Dell

12 Writing Experiences for Processing the Election

If our feelings as we approach the election are complicated and anxiety-ridden, then certainly our thoughts and feelings will be equally so in the days and weeks that follow this particular election. If this is true for us, it’s certainly true for our students. The team has been working this week (at Hattie’s inspiration!) to […]